Cintas Diverts 17 Million Plastic Bottles from Landfills in 2012

In honor of World Environment Day, Cintas Corporation announced that it diverted more than 17 million 16.9 oz. plastic bottles from landfills in 2012 through the production of its EcoGeneration line.

This represents a 13 percent increase over the company's 2011 totals. Cintas Corporation also reduced greenhouse gas emissions, water and solid waste production, energy use and fuel emissions through its document management and fire protection services.

"Our increased plastic bottle recycling is made possible because of our customers' dedication to environmental stewardship," said Melanie Boyle, sustainability manager for Cintas Corporation. "We are continually working to identify new ways to achieve sustainability savings across our divisions and share these ideas with other companies that are focused on limiting their environmental impact."

Eco-apparel from Cintas Corporation allows organizations to improve corporate image while maintaining a commitment to being green. The company recently launched a new corn-based apparel line and also offers apparel made from recycled polyester fiber.

The clothing saves energy and limits the use of harsh dry cleaning chemicals since many of the pieces can be laundered at home. Customers can choose from sustainable tops, bottoms, scrubs and washable tuxedos.

Cintas Document Management provides secure shredding services in which all shredded paper is recycled. In 2012, this division helped keep more than 330,000 tons of paper from being landfilled. The shredded paper is delivered to a paper mill to be repurposed as secondary paper products such as paper towels and tissue.

According to The Paper Calculator, this process saves more than:

• 7.9 million trees from being destroyed.
• 10.7 million BTUs of energy from being used, or the amount used to heat 118,089 homes for one year.
• 1.8 billion pounds of CO2 from being produced, or the equivalent of removing about 167,880 cars from roadways for one year.
• 7.5 billion gallons of wastewater from being produced, or the amount of water it would take to fill 11,422 swimming pools.
• 6.3 million pounds of solid waste from being produced, or the equivalent of keeping 22,655 garbage truck loads from being placed into landfills.

Cintas' fire protection division created additional sustainability savings. By incorporating lighter-weight and more fuel-efficient service vehicles into its fleet and reducing the number of round-trip service visits, more than 322,000 gallons of fuel were saved. Fire extinguisher servicing also recycled more than 325,000 aluminum and steel extinguisher valve stems.

For more information, visit www.cintas.com.